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Good Times!
Good Times! is the twelfth and final studio album by The Monkees. Produced mainly by Adam Schlesinger (with some additional bonus tracks produced by Andrew Sandoval), the album was recorded to commemorate the band's 50th anniversary. It is the first Monkees studio album since Justus (1996) the longest gap to date and the first since the death of founding member David Jones. The album features surviving Monkees Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork, as well as a posthumous contribution from Jones. Track Listing Standard edition #"Good Times" #"You Bring the Summer" #"She Makes Me Laugh" #"Our Own World" #"Gotta Give it Time" #"Me & Magdalena" #"Whatever's Right" #"Love to Love" #"Little Girl" #"Birth of an Accidental Hipster" #"Wasn't Born to Follow" #"I Know What I Know" #"I Was There (and I'm Told I Had a Good Time" Bonus Tracks #"Love's What I Want" (Japanese edition) #"A Better World" (FYE edition) #"Terrifying" (Digital download #1) #"Me & Magdalena" version 2 (Digital download #2) Vinyl releases On Rhino's vinyl release of the main album, Side 1 covers Tracks 1-6, while Side 2 covers Tracks 7-13. Barnes & Noble also offered an exclusive bonus 7" vinyl, with "Love's What I Want" on Side 1 and "A Better World" on Side 2. Additionally, Rhino released Good Times! Plus! -- a 10" Vinyl Record Store Day (RSD) Black Friday Exclusive. Side 1 contained "Terrifying" and "Me & Magdalena" version 2, and Side 2 contained "A Better World" and "Love's What I Want." Reception The album has received generally positive reviews, including a 4 out of 5 review by The Independent, who declared that Good Times! was "probably The Monkees' best album, after their hits compilation", while The New York Times summed up the release with "Fifty years later, the Monkees are still endearing." The Herald-Standard concluded that "If indeed this latest album serves as the group’s swan song, then it is a joyous finale." Music magazine Mojo gave the album four stars, and declared it their album of the week, while Record Collector stated "to everyone’s considerable relief and delight, they’ve pulled it off. They really have," and gave the album four stars. The album was awarded 3.5 out of 5 by Rolling Stone, who concluded "Monkees freaks have waited far too long for this album. But it was worth it." The album was even better received by the magazine's Australian edition, which gave it full marks and noted "Producer Adam Schlesinger of Fountains Of Wayne knows a thing or five about classic pop, and although Good Times! is a Frankenstein's monster of something old, something new and something in between, he manages to orchestrate the whole thing into something beyond an embarrassing heritage act." Ultimate Classic Rock declared that "The fact that there is a new Monkees album in 2016 is miraculous enough, but that said album, Good Times!, is nothing short of a masterpiece is astounding." The Raidió Teilifís Éireann website also gave the album a positive review, stating that "keeping it analogue and raw, Good Times! is a joy. This is one band reunion that doesn’t besmirch the legacy and even offers something new and fresh." However, it acknowledged that "Noel Gallagher teams up with Paul Weller to dash off "Birth Of An Accidental Hipster", another droll sub-Kinks ditty but it sounds bloated compared to the effervescence of what’s gone before." ABC News concluded that "This is mandatory listening for any Monkees fan." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, stating the album is "a joyous revival of the cheerful jangle that characterized the group's big '60s hits." A slightly more mixed review was given by Will Hodgkinson in The Times, who gave the album 3/5, and the Evening Standard, who decided that the album "doesn’t quite work as it’s let down by a flat production and the lack of anything approaching their more magical moments. For all that, though, it’s no disgrace" and gave the album three stars. A negative review was given by The Irish Times, with Tony Clayton-Lea summarizing that "Songs by Death Cab for Cutie songwriter Ben Gibbard ("Me & Magdalena"), XTC’s Andy Partridge ("You Bring The Summer"), and Noel Gallagher/Paul Weller ("Birth of an Accidental Hipster") brilliantly reference the band’s 1960s glory days, but as a cohesive project it’s more unpleasant valley Sunday than anything else." At Metacritic, the album has a metascore of 79, indicating generally favorable reviews. Its user score is 8.7, indicating universal acclaim. The album is the highest charting Monkees album in the U.S. since The Birds, the Bees & the Monkees in 1968 and the highest charting in the U.K. since Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. in 1967. Category:Albums Category:Monkees Albums